Athanasius
Saint Athanasius is the patron of theologians and of the faith itself because he embodied, more than any other figure, the cost of defending true doctrine. As Bishop of Alexandria he fought the Arian denial of Christ’s full divinity through five exiles, so often alone against emperors and bishops alike that his name gave the proverb Athanasius contra mundum — “Athanasius against the world.” Theologians take him as their patron because the very vocabulary of orthodox Christology was hammered out in his struggle, and all who must hold the faith against the tide invoke the man who would not yield.
Saint Athanasius of Alexandria was the great champion of Trinitarian orthodoxy against the Arian heresy. As Bishop of Alexandria from 328, he was exiled five times by various Roman emperors for his unwavering defense of the divinity of Christ. His phrase “Athanasius against the world” became a byword for standing firm in one’s convictions.
